Ray Bandar: A Life with Skulls

He's been called Dr. Bones and Reptile Ray. Usually dressed in tattered "field-trip" clothes, Ray Bandar has been a fixture at the California Academy of Sciences and the beaches around the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 60 years.

"A Life with Skulls" captures Ray's obsession for collecting skulls from local beaches, road kill, zoo animals and on field trips to Mexico, Australia and in the United States. This humorous movie investigates Bandar's history as a skull collector, showing many of the thousands of skulls he has accumulated over the years, talking to Alkmene, his resilient wife, and touring the awe-inspiring Bone Palace.

"A Life with Skulls" is an inspiring look at a man who has a special tie to the natural world. You will be motivated to go out and explore it for yourself.

DVD include extras, including:* Ray collecting a Harbor Porpoise skull * Tour of the Bone Palace * Photo gallery of historic images * Tour of Ray's house full of skulls* Stories about the skulls in the exhibit* Ray's first-person adventure stories

Televised Broadcasts:Aired on season four of "Natural Heroes" on PBS, which was shown throughout the US (distributed by NETA)website: http://naturalheroes.org/videos/ray-bandar-a-life-with-skulls/

Reviews:San Francisco Chronicle, January 2007:"The Bone Collector / Ray Bandar, who has collected the skulls and bones of more than 7,000 animals and decapitated many, inspired one of the films by Bay Area filmmakers at the Ocean Film Festival"By Patricia YollinLink: http://goo.gl/cSNNni

Contra Costa Times, January 2007:"Skulls take over, at home and in film"By Karl MondonLink: http://goo.gl/rmAecE

Awards:* Berkeley Film and Video Festival: Best of Festival Award - Documentary* Wildlife Film Festival: Best Storytelling

Film Festivals:* San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, January 2007* Bay Model Museum, February 2007* The Randall Museum, March 2007* The RiverKeeper Film Festival, 2008* Culture Unplugged Film Festival* Oakland Dreammaker Film Festival